The Beat Down

The photo at the left is the dude who beat me today....by 17 shots. Not even close. I'm pretty sure I pasted him the last couple of times out on the course so he was due for a "W" but 17 shots? Ass kicking comes to mind. Ouch. Nice round Meat.

So here it is late in the evening and I'm still looking for my butt since it got kicked so hard earlier today that frankly, I can't find it.

I took the afternoon off and raced up to TPC to play with Wade and Mike. As is often the case, I didn't have time to warm up properly and went right out on the course shoes untied, yanking my golf glove on, and babbling with the starter Chip. This sort of thing is something my good pal Johnny Miller told me NEVER to do. When I was with him last week he reiterated the need for every golfer to stretch, swing clubs, and hit AT LEAST 30 golf balls to loosen up. Johnny, in theory, these are wonderful tips. I just tend to fly by the seat of my pants. Chip, who is only half-blind unlike Stu, and is in his mid-70's, instructed us to start on #10 since a bunch of groups were stalling things up big time on the front 9. Chip was in no mood to break up a brawl and frankly, I didn't want to fight anyone today. Too tired. Mike was afraid of mixing it up too...he said his wife was expecting a baby in March. As if that had anything to do with alittle fisticuffs on the fairway. Where is his sense of adventure?

Okay, so starting on 10 was a problem for me. We have dubbed holes 10-12 as "Amen Corner." They're long and the greens are diabolical and often the pin placements make the holes even more difficult. Right off the bat I'm on my heels. Reeling.

I pushed my drive right into some hideously long rough that resulted in a ho-hum bogey on 10. No big deal - just getting the motor warm. Bogey on 11. This made me ANGRY since I hit a great shot only to have it go 20 years past the pin. Johnny was right. Need to club down now - yardages are all messed up. I had a double bogey on 12 and at this point I contemplated tossing my golf bag in the pond and driving off the course. I was VERY CRANKY for (a) Starting on 10 - it messes me up mentally - I'm not prepared for the 3 hardest holes to start with; (b)scoring so poorly at the start (see 'a');(c) seeing Mike absolutely and undeservedly lite it up and; (c) the fact that my energy level was in the tank.

Mysteriously, my golf mojo, indeed my life 'jo, has just been out of whack for a few days now. I've been really tired lately - possibly from "overdoing it" over the opening weekend of football by getting caught up in too many games, staying up late committing stats to memory, and blogging late into the night. I didn't have the proper mindset to step on the course to play a guy would inevitably play the round of his life and be completely ON FIRE. Rose actually had a legitimate chance at a 34 on the front 9 but he missed a few putts by a hair. By the end of his round, a 71 by the way, could have EASILY been a 65. It's the best round I've ever played with - Sorry Davey. Steve. et al. Mike shot a round for the ages. MAYBE two bad shots all afternoon. Of course the difference between a 65 and a 71 was the putting.

With that debacle behind me, I am forced to face the fact that my low energy level is of concern to me - I have an appointment next week with one of my docs - the sleep specialist. I felt like my sleep apnea had responded well to the use of my bipap machine until I went to Phoenix last week and didn't bring my magic sleep machine along for the trip. I don't know if not using it for 2 nights is affecting me now, but I'm flat out bushed all day long and have been all week. Even the prospect of playing golf didn't get me fired up which is highly unusual. I'm taking J-Dog Hales out tomorrow since he leaves next week for his mission in Lima, Peru. Hopefully I'll be in better shape on Friday...since it's Friday. I'm looking forward to it - hopefully Janae can tag along and take some pictures. We love Justin and think of him as a son, along with the rest of the "B-Unit."

Brainstorming today, Davey and I came up with a great idea - we'd like to have a UNLV Runnin' Rebel/Leavitt Agency meet and greet right before the basketball season tips off. We'll invite clients to come out to the Thomas & Mack, bring their kids, and have a series of shooting contests, capped off by a three-point contest (I'm the reigning office 3 point champ although Rose will undoubtedly put up a mighty fight on this - wouldn't it be great to be 23 years old again? Not really), Lon can say a few words (don't you think Lon sounds alittle like Carl the greenskeeper on Caddyshack?), we'll have some catered food brought in, get some t-shirts made up, have a photo op with coach Kruger, and do something alittle different for our clients than the usual golf gig...although I still HAVE to do that.

Mike, you did good today. I'm readying myself for a rematch. Tomorrow even....it's only me and the kid. We're going out late.

Remember, it's only round 2.